Chapter 155: Explosion

“The way he came to save me, still in battle armor and covered in the dust of the road—I will never forget it for the rest of my life! The sight of him bursting into that room brimming with killing intent was like a god descending before my eyes! My elder brother was suffering humiliation in the capital too, and his own situation was difficult. When he learned what had happened, instead of simply rejoicing that I had escaped, he encouraged me to seduce Shang Jianbo. For no other reason than to borrow Prince Ning’s power and protect ourselves!”

Hai Ruyue lifted the wine pot and drank straight from it again. Her eyes grew even more unfocused.

“Reading by lamplight in army camps, leading the charge from horseback—Shang Jianbo was accomplished in both civil and martial affairs. He followed generals to war while still in his teens and spent years on the frontier battlefields. When I first met him more than twenty years ago, he had already begun to reveal his brilliance and held considerable prestige in the army. He was in the prime of his youth!”

“His elder brother, Shang Jianxiong—the present emperor of the State of Yan—spent those same years in Yanjing familiarizing himself with state affairs. One brother followed the civil path, the other the martial.”

“As for that elder cousin Shang Jianxiong, my brother and I sought his help again and again when our situation was difficult.”

“But Shang Jianxiong was different from Shang Jianbo. As long as Shang Jianbo had military merit in hand, he had the confidence to speak as he pleased. Shang Jianxiong cared far more about his relationships with the ministers. He coveted the position of heir and did not want to offend certain officials. You can imagine what came of my brother and me asking that elder cousin for help.”

“My brother saw hope in Shang Jianbo’s beating of Tong Mo. He saw that Shang Jianbo was not the same sort of man as Shang Jianxiong. To stay alive, he set his sights on Shang Jianbo and told me to approach him, to entice him.”

“I was certainly troubled by it, but I was not repulsed. From the moment Shang Jianbo rescued me from the Tong residence and sent me safely home, I had already fallen for him. After that, I kept finding excuses to get close to him.”

“Once Shang Jianbo understood my feelings, he declined me tactfully. Later, he even began avoiding me. He already had a wife at the time, and a son as well. Shang Chaozong had not even appeared yet. But I did not care. I had gone mad back then. If I could have him, I was willing to accept even having no proper status.”

“In the end, even a hero finds it difficult to pass the trial of a beauty. I got what I wanted. The two of us ended up together.”

Yuan Gang was speechless. Cousins, and yet they had actually... Then he remembered what sort of age this was. Marriage between cousins was perfectly ordinary here. There was little to be surprised about.

“Later, the situation beneath Heaven changed. Yan needed to join forces with Zhao, so my brother and I were to be sent back to our own country.”

“After suffering for so long, we had finally survived to see that day. But by then I no longer wanted to return. I only wanted to stay with Shang Jianbo.”

“My brother refused. He said that as a princess, I could not follow a man without name or status, and there was certainly no reason for me to become someone’s concubine. Zhao could not afford that humiliation.”

“He also said that marrying a princess into another state was a humiliating marriage alliance, and that now it was Yan asking something of Zhao. Even if Shang Jianbo wanted to marry me, Yan would have to show sufficient sincerity.”

“To put it plainly, he wanted to extract benefits from Yan.”

Hai Ruyue smiled bitterly.

“I was very naive then. I secretly ran away and hid. In the depths of winter, I hid alone in the mountains, hungry and freezing.”

“Later, Shang Jianbo personally led men through heavy snow and found me.”

“I was deeply moved. I thought he had come so we could stay together forever.”

“Who would have imagined that he would personally escort me back to the convoy returning home?”

Her voice grew soft.

“The snow was very heavy that day. He sat motionless on horseback.”

“Before I climbed into the carriage, I shouted at him, ‘I hate you!’”

“The man I loved most was also the one who hurt me most deeply.”

Tears were already streaming down Hai Ruyue’s face. It seemed she had returned in memory to that snowy day. Yuan Gang remained silent, his face expressionless.

“After I returned to Zhao, news of him reached me from time to time.”

“He rose astonishingly quickly and became one of his generation’s great commanders. As commander of the Yingyang and Wulie Guards, he swept all before him and shook the realm with his might.”

“As for me, my imperial father and mother married me to Xiao Huang’s son in order to placate Xiao Huang, who was then Provincial Inspector of Jinzhou. That son was my late husband, Xiao Bieshan.”

“Not long afterward, Xiao Huang died and Xiao Bieshan took control of Jinzhou.”

“Later my imperial father passed away, and my elder brother inherited the throne.”

“My brother was filled with ambition and wanted to pacify the regional lords. He did not even intend to spare his own brother-in-law!”

A faint sneer appeared on her tear-streaked face.

“I never expected him to spare us!”

“When my father and mother sent me to Yan as a hostage, they said it was for the people of Zhao.”

“When they forced me to return, they said I could not humiliate the dignity of the state.”

“When they forced me to marry Xiao Bieshan, they said I had to sacrifice myself for Zhao’s realm and altars...”

“By then I had gradually understood.”

“Relying on anyone else was useless. Better to rely on myself.”

“I would no longer let them arrange my life as they pleased.”

“So I contacted Shang Jianbo. I appealed to old affection, laid out reason, and asked for help!”

“Shang Jianbo persuaded the Yan court and personally led an army to the border. All of Zhao was thrown into panic. The crisis around Jinzhou was finally broken.”

“That was also the time Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion began to take me seriously.”

Her laughter carried bitterness.

“My imperial father and mother sent me to Yan as a hostage for the realm and altars.”

“They forced me back for the realm and altars.”

“They forced me to marry a sickly man for the realm and altars.”

“My brother wanted to kill my husband for the realm and altars.”

“I suppose Shang Jianbo made his choice back then for Yan’s realm and altars as well.”

“And now?”

“My brother probably wishes he could eliminate me at once. Naturally, his reason would still be the realm and altars.”

“Every one of them acts for the realm and altars.”

“Can their realm and altars truly be borne on the shoulders of one woman like me?”

She laughed through her tears.

“Then again, perhaps leaving Shang Jianbo was not necessarily a bad thing.”

“You should have heard how he ended. If I had followed him back then, perhaps I too would have died some inexplicable death.”

Still crying and laughing, she tipped her head back and poured wine into her mouth.

Yuan Gang reached out, snatched the wine pot away, and tossed it behind him.

Splash!

It fell into the lotus pond again.

He rose and said coldly, “Master Dao is working on your behalf as well. Do not delay your own affairs.”

With that, he strode away. Hai Ruyue sat with her back to him, silver teeth quietly biting her lower lip.

What a stone-hearted man!

By the time she rose and turned around, Yuan Gang had already disappeared.

Afterward, she summoned her steward, Zhu Shun, and passed down instructions regarding Niu Youdao’s matter.

Once the arrangements had been made, the wine was beginning to overcome her. Her steps were somewhat unsteady by the time she returned to her room.

The moment she entered, an arm reached from behind the door and wrapped around her waist. She turned her head. It was Li Wuhua, Elder of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion.

His hand was already moving toward places it should not have been touching.

“I hear you’ve been spending quite a bit of time with that man called Yuan Gang lately. Don’t tell me spring has stirred your heart and you’ve taken a liking to him?”

“There’s no such thing. Niu Youdao truly is a talented man. I’m only trying to use someone close to him to draw closer to Niu Youdao.”

“Best if that’s true. I told you—you are mine!”

“If you want me to be yours, that’s simple. Marry me. I am the Grand Princess of the State of Zhao. Do you dare marry me? All you dare do is take a few liberties... Mm...”

She got no farther before he swept her up and carried her toward the bed... At Liufang Guesthouse, Yuan Gang returned in a heavy mood. A net had been cast throughout all of Zhao.

The Yan court itself had made a move against Master Dao. Master Dao was in danger!

Back in the courtyard, Yuan Gang found Wei Duo and shut the door behind them.

He lowered his voice. “Master Dao is in danger. We can’t wait any longer. As for breaking the restriction on you, that will have to wait until later. I’m making my move now.”

Wei Duo nodded. “All... all right!”

“Pack your things as quickly as possible. I’ll create a disturbance. The moment it happens, take advantage of the chaos and get out first. I’ll follow you afterward. We meet at the intersection to the right after leaving here.”

“All right!” Wei Duo nodded hard.

“I’ve stockpiled quite a lot of the powder. The disturbance may be bigger than you expect. Don’t panic and don’t overthink it. The instant you hear it, leave. Understand?”

“I... I under... understand!”

Wei Duo nodded again. Yuan Gang immediately went into the inner room and came back carrying a wine jar. Then he left the courtyard.

Carrying the jar, he went into the gardens of Liufang Guesthouse and wandered among a cluster of artificial rockeries.

After calmly checking his surroundings, he crouched and reached into a small hole beneath one of the rock formations. He pulled out something wrapped in oiled paper.

After tearing the wrapping open, he drew out a hemp-rope-like fuse and laid it along the ground.

Thump!

He struck the wine jar against a sharp corner of the rockery and opened a hole in it. A fine black sand-like substance began leaking out.

He poured it into a heap over the rope-like fuse, then slowly rose with the jar in hand and began walking.

Black grains continued streaming behind him, leaving a dark line along the path. From time to time, he glanced back to check it.

Judging the remaining weight of the jar in his hand, he strolled casually to a pavilion and sat directly on the steps.

He placed the wine jar beside him and took a fire striker from his clothes. Two maids happened to walk past the nearby rockeries. He waited.

Only after the two women had gone some distance did he open the fire striker and blow it alight.

He pressed the flame to the black powder on the ground.

Hiss!

Smoke rose. A chain of sparks raced swiftly along the trail of black powder.

Yuan Gang immediately picked up the wine jar and strode away toward a patch of woodland.

Boom!

An earth-shattering explosion tore through the garden. The artificial rockeries split apart and blasted outward as a violent wind swept in every direction.

Yuan Gang launched himself forward in a single stride and dived into the trees.

The blast wave followed immediately behind him, ravaging flowers, grass, and trees. He turned sideways behind a large trunk. Several great rocks screamed through the air.

One slammed into the tree shielding him, exploding splinters from the side facing the blast. Everyone throughout Liufang Guesthouse felt the shock. People sitting in chairs froze blankly. Those walking felt the ground tremble beneath their feet. The deafening detonation startled everyone. This was the disturbance he had meant?

Wei Duo stared in shock after the earth jolted beneath his feet.

Then he slung his bundle over his back, turned, and ran. Cultivators appeared and flashed out from every direction.

They climbed to high points and looked toward the same location, all uncertain what had happened.

Many immediately flew toward the rising cloud of smoke and dust.

At a time like this, who would still be paying attention to whether someone had left the premises?

Yuan Gang reached the perimeter wall at a run, vaulted over it, landed outside Liufang Guesthouse, lowered his head, and strode quickly toward the main street.

The common people in the streets stood like wooden statues, staring toward the smoke rising from Liufang Guesthouse.

“J-just now...”

At the street intersection, Wei Duo saw Yuan Gang approaching and stammered out a question.

Yuan Gang grabbed him by the arm and said under his breath, “Take advantage of the confusion and get out of the city now. Once they seal the gates, it’ll be much harder.”

The two moved quickly through the bewildered crowds filling the streets.

At the Provincial Inspector’s Residence in Jinzhou, Hai Ruyue had fallen asleep under the influence of wine after her pleasure.

The sudden “thunderclap” jolted her upright in bed.

She could still feel a faint tremor beneath the floor, and an uproar immediately rose outside.

She quickly climbed down from the bed naked, snatched up her clothes, and hurriedly put them on.

A moment later she emerged from the room with her hair loose around her shoulders.

The sky was clear and bright. It did not look like thunderstorm weather.

Seeing the maids chattering anxiously, she barked, “What happened just now?”

Every maid shook her head. None knew.

[End of Chapter 155]